Game: Bakschisch

Thread: Re: Language issue

ponchera69 — 2008-04-13T04:40:15+00:00

Thank you!

Thread: Re: Language issue

Eric Brosius — 2008-04-13T04:38:05+00:00

This game is completely language independent except for the rules. You should have no trouble playing it. I'm a huge fan of this game (I've played it more than 20 times) and I encourage you to try it. It can easily be played in less than half an hour.

Thread: Language issue

ponchera69 — 2008-04-13T03:05:56+00:00

The classic question: Is this game language independant?

Thank you in advance!
JJ

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skelebone — 2007-03-25T23:33:52+00:00

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chiputti — 2006-10-14T17:21:31+00:00

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chiputti — 2006-10-14T17:12:23+00:00

Thread: Session Report

Kevin_Whitmore — 2005-04-06T16:52:49+00:00

[SR] Tuesday Night Gamers, July 24, 2001

BAKSCHISCH Last night (Monday Night) I played Java and Bakschisch for the first time. I was inspired to write up my observations about both games and post them to Spielfrieks. I will repeat the remarks about Bakschisch below:

(begin quote)
"Bakschisch - After a brain-burner like Java, we switched gears to Bakschisch. Never heard of this one? Not too surprising - it is an obscure game that disappeared shortly after its release in 1995.

Bakschisch is a game about bribing your way through the palace, in order to get to the Caliph. Each player is given a black sack that has 10 gold pieces and a thief marker in it. The game board is the city outside the palace and the palace rooms proper. The layout progresses snake-like from the start place. (No branches or dead ends.) In each location an inhabitant (of the city, or the palace) is shown. There are five figures: The Servant, The Guard, The Harem Girl, the Litter-bearer, and the Mage. Additionally there is the Caliph who is only shown on the throne.

There is also a deck of cards. Each card shows one of the five inhabitants, or the Caliph. Five cards are randomly set out for each round. They are revealed as the round progresses. The first card is revealed. (Let's say it is a guard.) Players now attempt to offer the highest bribe to this figure. Each player secretly takes some of his gold pieces from his bag and holds them in his fist. Everyone simultaneously opens their fist and whoever gave the largest bribe gets to advance their figure to the next corresponding position on the board. (In my example you would advance to the next guard.)

All the gold offered is set to the side. Four more cards will be handled in this manner. There are a couple of twists though. Each player has a thief figure. If you wish you can grab that instead of gold. When a thief is revealed, he steals all bribes offered and puts his opponents gold in his bag. (If two or more thieves are revealed they split any loot evenly.) The other twist is that the fifth inhabitant to be revealed also has a penalty associated with them. If you offer the smallest bribe on the fifth card, you must move backward towards the nearest corresponding figure.

When the round ends, all gold by the side of the table is redistributed evenly among the players. This means that the amount of wealth is not always evenly distributed. (I may have only spent 5 gold in the round. But if 21 coins are to be split by three players, I will get 7 coins back.) There are a couple other rules, but this is the heart of the game.

In our game, I was able to get into the top row (the palace) first. However, I was overbid on every attempt I made to advance further, and ended up losing the fifth bid of that round. I was forced to go backwards, and out of the palace. Chris and Rick both managed to pass me, entering the palace the next round. Chris arrived at the Caliph's throne on the last card of the following round. Since you win by ending a round on the throne, Chris won!

Obviously this is VERY LIGHT fare. I loved it! I could easily see playing this with children. But I found it entertaining too. The game plays in about 20-30 minutes. Good stuff!"

That was Monday night - tonight we played it with four players. Unfortunately the game was not as well received. With three players the game ended as we finished going through the deck. With four players, the game dragged on a bit long. The fourth thief made progress a bit too difficult.

Further, I have re-read the rules and found out I made some errors in teaching the game. During the fifth bribe, no one advances. The only result is supposed to be a retreat of whoever offered the smallest bribe. This would have altered the result of both games played. Oops! If two people end the game on the throne, the player with the most cash wins, and a further tiebreaker is who got their first!

Initially I thought I shared the victory with Michael. But upon review of these rules, I would have to tip the victory to Michael. However, we did play the fifth bribe completely wrong. I know better for next time! Tonight's ratings were low for this game. However, I would have rated this game a solid 3.25 stars (OK) last night for the three-player game. How odd, a game best for three players!

Ratings:

Kevin and Michael: OK

Bob and Dianne: Poor

Thread: Session Report

Eric Brosius — 2004-02-01T14:17:00+00:00

BAKSCHISCH (Rich, Evan, Eric, Mike)

Dan and Scott left, as it was now 11:30, but 4 die-hards stayed on for one final game. Eric proposed Bakschisch, a quick blind-bidding game he recently purchased from Funagain. This game could be described as "Candyland on steroids," a description that is also sometimes used of Cartagena. The goal is to be first to move your token to the Caliph's seat through successful bids for advancement cards. The board is reminiscent of Aladdin's Dragons, with a winding path from the bottom to the top and a palace representing the top row. Each round, four advancement cards are put up for auction, one after the other, with a card granting the right to advance to the next space of a specific color. The fifth card in each round is a fall-back card; players bid to avoid falling back to the next space of that color.

Players bid using coins, with the high bidder(s) moving forward. You must pay the amount of your bid, win or lose. This is a mechanism that is annoying in many games, but Bakschisch is so simple and quick that it works here. Each player also has a thief that can be used once a round. It's a big help if you can scoop up multiple juicy bids with a single thief, and it's a disappointment if you play your thief only to find other thieves at work, leaving only a miserable amount to split up. After each round, all money bid and not stolen is divided up equally among all players, Traumfabrik-style.

Eric and Mike bid aggressively early on, leaving Rich and Evan richer but well behind on the track. Rich then made his move, spending cash to catch up as Evan continued his frugal ways. Eric and Mike bid their way into the palace (losing their thieves, which aren't admitted to the palace) as Rich scored big with his thief. Evan finally made his move, bidding high and draining cash from unsuccessful bidders, but falling short as first Rich and then Eric made it to the Caliph's seat. With only the fall-back card left to play, the question was who would still be on the throne when the round ended for the victory. Rich bid 4 and Eric bid 3, while Evan, impoverished by his late push, could bid only 2. Evan fell back, leaving Rich and Eric still on the seat. The first tie-break is cash, but Rich and Eric had both spent all their cash. The second tie-break is order of arrival, and since Rich arrived on the Caliph's seat one card before Eric did, he was the winner.

Eric's rating: 8. This game plays quickly; we finished in 20 minutes, including the rules explanation (of course, our motto at MVGA is "play fast, make mistakes.") There's some luck, but it doesn't seem as overwhelming as it can be in Cartagena. The "pay your bid, win or lose" blind-bidding mechanism works better in a 20-minute game than in a longer game, and there are real, tense decisions to make. If only the box weren't so big!

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Randy Cox — 2002-12-23T23:25:08+00:00